Real
by Gunslingers-White-Rose
Summary: Words said in anger, memories of a bright past. Alm needs someone to be there for him in his moment of need after seeing Celica again for the first time in years. One-shot. Revised after reading you guy's suggestions.


**Dedicated to "Sharena the Askr Princess" from YouTube. :)**

 **Due to your unbelievably rude responses, inability to see other people's points of view, inability to see your own actions, constant misuse of terms that you are trying to make derogatory and the way you parade your views on a golden pedestal because it goes with canon and anything that goes against canon is nothing short of blasphemy according to you… You are the reason I wrote this. (Or as you go on here, FanficLovingPerson)**

 **And if you are reading it, I hope you hate it.**

 **Everyone else who** ** _isn't_** **the aforementioned person, I do hope you enjoy!**

…

Real (revised on 10-10-17)

…

Alm couldn't believe his ears, he wasn't even sure if what just happened had happened, just that Celica had stormed off and was nowhere in sight to him. She disappeared into the darkness of the shadows caused by the sun behind him, her form lost from sight as he stood rooted to the ground. The silence left behind her was deafening, it was suffocating. The amulet Celica gave him seven years ago was under his armor, strangling him with its presence and taunting him. _Celica_.

He had been waiting to see her again; even with time mostly erasing her face to him and blurring their time together all those years ago. But now, he wondered.

Was that really Celica? The woman who had run to him, hugging him and causing supplies to fly through the air with her force? The same woman he embraced with the sunset over them as they smiled at each other, she who was dressed in pure white robes with elegant gold trim? _Celica_.

Was she really the same person who tried to tell him that he shouldn't fight against Rigel and brought his birth status up as a reason? Who told him that the Zofian Deliverance forces shouldn't fight against the aggressive Rigelian Empire who burned their homes, took their crops, killed their king and threw their entire country into turmoil?

He didn't want to believe it, but he had no choice. It happened.

Leading an army made from knights of the Zofian court, peasants who just barely lifted a sword and serfs who have never seen a fight in their lives against a highly militarized empire they didn't have a chance in hell to win the battle. But due to _his_ leadership the day was won and their home was liberated, all due to his leadership and his own power, despite being a peasant himself. But just hours after the castle was liberated, _she_ appeared before him after seven years of separation only to end up telling him he shouldn't be fighting against the empire and instead should _reason_ with them!

Why would she say something like that, she had been a villager just like him! Even if she had that gilded golden dagger when they were kids… And always an air about her… like she was-

He placed his hands over his forehead, his eyes refusing to focus on anything as he slowly breathed through his nose, mouth refusing to open or even move. He had been waiting, yearning, to see her again! It wasn't fair! It didn't go anywhere like he wanted it to! She was supposed to stay as that little girl with the yellow bow, golden dagger and bright red hair! _Celica_. He was choking, the pendant was like a weight upon his neck that was suffocating him, whispering lies and false hopes to him. It spoke to him about all those years of waiting, sealing away his breath and he felt black spots appear in his peripheral vision. _Celica_.

He was startled when he felt arms wrap around him, his first thought being Celica coming back to apologize, when his eyes focused to see not red hair but to see pale yellow locks.

"F-Faye…" He spoke shakily as her hold slowly made him snap to reality, realizing he had forgotten to breathe.

She responded with a tighter embrace, but he could feel an uneasy stiffness to her once sincere hold. "I'm sorry, Alm." She spoke, her words shaky, as if she was afraid.

Why would she be scared, Alm thought, wanting to forget the confrontation with _her_.

Faye looked up at Alm, her face neutral but her eyes expressing different emotions ranging from fear, kindness and sincerity. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but when your voices got too loud, I couldn't- I mean…" She trailed off, her eyes darting away from him as her cheeks lit up.

 _She heard them. Right, of course she did. They did end up-_

He doesn't want to think about it. He wants… It was…

"No… It's alright Faye." He spoke, his voice was tight. _Celica_. He couldn't think, every time he thinks of Celica, he is thrust back into bright colored memories of wild rose fields and bright red hair with an ethereal glow. _Celica_. _Heavy. It's heavy. Heavy._

But when he feels Faye nod, he is yanked back to the present and confronted with the earthy tones of Faye and the colors of the natural sunset. _Lighter. I'm lighter._

With Faye he can smell the scents of oranges from their home, the smell of freshly baked bread and the fresh rain as it falls from the heavens above. But when Celica was before him, he couldn't pinpoint what the scent was, it was foreign and indescribable, confusing him as he couldn't find a memory to associate it with, only that it was her and nothing else.

"It's alright..." He spoke again, not believing his own words. _Celica_. A tremble went through his body, visions of Celica covered in fire like her hair as she kicked him down and stepped on his chest. _Celica_. Her finely made robes and body gilded with gold. _Celica_. "It's… It's all…" He spoke, his words trailing off as his eyes blurred and his hands grasped at his hair. _Celica_.

Faye, without a single word pulled Alm into a tighter embrace, not surprised when his own arms went around her and pulled her into him. His choked sobs crashed through him, his anger, embarrassment and humiliation coming out in waves as he gripped on the person who was giving him comfort in this moment of need.

She held him, no words needing to be spoken between them in this moment. He is hurt, he needs someone to hold him while he breaks. She was far from being perfect for this, but she would do all she could.

The two of them stood there in each other's embrace for what seemed like hours. Alm holding onto Faye as his sobs went from wracking to silent, her hands running along his back and letting him cry it out. Eventually, Alm's chest stopped heaving from his sobs and had evened out to a more natural rhythm, causing him to blink away the blurriness of his eyes and focus on the here and now. Where he is, what is happening and who he is with.

Faye pulled away when she felt him cease his sobs and knew when he was ready to put himself back together. She looked up at him, his eyes were still red from crying and his hair was even more disheveled than usual. She tried to keep her hands to herself, but after Alm letting her hold him like that her hands went to his hair and started to smooth it out.

Alm let her, knowing Faye had done this same action when they were just small children, he allowed her to continue with her ministrations. His vision was returning, he was remembering where he is. He's in the capital of Zofia (Castle Zofia to be exact), he had just declared freedom from the Rigelian Empire, taken the head of the Rigelian tyrant general and led an entire army behind him, despite being born a farm boy.

"I'm sorry how your meeting went, Alm." Faye spoke as she dared not meet his eyes. He stayed silent and allowed her to speak, already knowing what she was going to say. "You were so hopeful to see her again, yet things soured so badly."

"She brought my station into question." He said tonelessly, too exhausted to really put much feeling into it.

"I know."

When Faye finished with his hair, she moved to his armor as she straightened it; along with his head piece. "It's been years, she's been who knows where for all this time. Who knows what happened to her over that time. Did she make other types of friends? Did she do this, or that? Who knows. But what all remains is that she's different, just like you."

Alm started when he heard that, his eyes focusing on her. "What?"

Faye shrugged, might as well as finish her speech. "You're not the same child you were all those years ago, Alm. You grew up, and so did she. People can change over time, in little or big ways. No one stays the same their entire life."

Alm slowly blinked as he took in her words, her hands were leaving him. Immediately, his own hands shot out to her own, grabbing them in an almost vice like grip. Faye looked up at him this time, eyes connecting with his. His eyes looked lost with him slowly pulling her hands to his cheeks to lay.

Celica had been an idea, a hope, something that wasn't there. The ethereal being of his past, his memories that was always just out of reach. But Faye, in his time of need, was _there_. She made him think of reality, of the village, of his friends, his grandpapa and the stone he stands upon.

Faye isn't like Celica, where Celica had changed and morphed into the person he had the fight with Faye remains unchanged. Celica grew up away from him, Faye grew up beside him. She remains unchanged, she's still the little farm girl with two sisters, the same girl who fusses over the little things and followed him and their friends into a war. She's real, she's there, she's present.

His eyes closed as her hands stayed on his cheeks, even after he let go of them. Her touch brought him _there_.

Oranges.

Home.

Stone.

Earth.

Reality.

She grew up, just like he did. She wasn't the same little girl with the yellow bow, bright red hair and golden dagger; just like how he wasn't the same dirty, bouncy little boy who got embarrassed by flower crowns and ate oranges. The amulet grips him, the voice is softer, almost silent.

She isn't there.

But he is, he is real. This is real. This is the present.

He is a soldier, fighting a war. Fighting not because he wants to, but he needs to. Fighting because words won't fix this war, fighting because people have died already, fighting because everyone is counting on him.

His eyes opened, the fire and determination shining through them in this moment. Where he was broken, he now would mend and become stronger. Faye, who stood before him in her simple hand made dress and cloak, bathed in the sunset hues and looking like a stark contrast to the stone pillars of the castle balcony. She looked up at him with a different light in her eyes, lips slightly parted as something between them was changed.

No words were spoken between them, for the two could tell.

Even when she closed the distance between the two of them, no words were spoken.

Not even when her hands cupped his cheeks while pulling him softly towards her lips as his own hands hung limply by his sides unmoving, the sun beside them both. No darkness, no harsh words, just them and the present.

Even after the kiss was broken, they stood there. The two of them sharing this moment with the other. One who was willing to give and make the other happy and give comfort, the other who did not accept or stop the kiss from happening. The two shared a look from each other's gaze, the dark blue showing apprehension and loss with the soft brown being filled with worry and anxiety.

The silence around them was not as deafening as the one left behind before, but it was not the most serene. At least it was breathable, a silence that can be worked with.

No, Faye did change too. She changed when she reached her age of majority. Instead of becoming an unfamiliar person who is practically a stranger like Celica did, Faye grew into her role and became... Softer and motherly.

No one stays the same their whole lives. People change. That's life. That's reality.

They each gripped the other tightly, their eyes closing as their foreheads came into contact. Alm's hands slowly made their way from her shoulders to her own cheeks, cupping her face as the contact between them made him feel everything around him. The Sun's rays warming the chilled core that was left behind, the strong and steady floor of the stone beneath him, the breeze that caressed their bodies in this moment. He could feel the warmth from Faye and the gentle thrum of her heart as their bodies were in such close proximity.

He didn't know how long they stood there, how long it will take for everything to make sense again, but he had a feeling that everything will be alright now.

He didn't feel the weight of the amulet anymore.


End file.
